The farming lobby is pushing the Government to seek the suspension of European Union carbon-related charges on fertiliser imports amid pressure on prices and supplies driven by the conflict in the Middle East.
It comes as spokesman for Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said on Friday that there may only be enough fertiliser in the country to supply the needs of farmers until the middle or the end of April.
Against this backdrop, Irish Farmers Association (IFA) president Francie Gorman has written to Heydon asking him to push the EU to suspend the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) for fertiliser.
The CBAM is an EU mechanism that puts a price on carbon emitted during the production of goods entering the EU to encourage cleaner industrial production in non-EU countries. Heydon will attend a meeting of EU agriculture ministers next Monday.
Prices and availability of fertiliser are heavily influenced by the price of natural gas and oil, which are key components of the product – with a spokesman for Heydon saying the gas price has increased by two thirds since the start of March.
In a letter sent on Friday to Heydon, Gorman asked him to request the EU “suspend CBAM for fertiliser, given the already deteriorating situation in the market”.
Figures extracted from the National Fertiliser Database show that stocks increased during the last quarter of 2025, with Heydon’s spokesman saying the database “indicates that there is sufficient fertiliser already in the country until at least mid/late April, but products such as Urea may be in shorter supply”.
He said that geopolitical uncertainty has “put pressure on fertiliser prices and likely availability as the year progresses”.
The Strait of Hormuz, which is currently massively constrained by upheaval following joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliatory bombardments by the Islamic Republic, is a key transit point for urea, which is a component for fertiliser.
“Agriculture in the EU as a whole is vulnerable to shocks in the availability and price of fertiliser due to limited internal production capacity and a reliance on imports. Ireland does not produce fertilisers and therefore is exposed to market shifts,” Heydon’s spokesman said.
Advance purchases last year mean there is something of a buffer and the sector is more prepared than it otherwise would have been for the price increases currently being seen.
Meanwhile, sales of fertiliser are down considerably due to poor weather and soil conditions reducing the opportunity for spreading. However, due to the small size of the Irish market and the lack of manufacturing here, companies and farmers here are “price-takers, dependent on global supply and demand and subject to euro exchange rates against the US dollar and other currencies”, the spokesman said.
Sinn Féin TD for Louth Ruairi Ó Murchu said it was “very worrying that we only have supplies of fertiliser guaranteed until mid April and urea levels are also low. If this crisis continues we could eventually face a huge impact on farming and food production”.
He called for engagement between farmers, the state agriculture and food development body Teagasc and the department and for alternative sourcing of fertiliser.
A spokesman for Teagasc said its feedback was that there was “adequate overall availability of fertilisers for current needs at farm-level”, with “no widespread reports of farmers being unable to source fertilisers, albeit at increasing prices”
“However, there has been some disruption on the availability of some specific fertilisers, particularly with urea-based fertilisers,” he said.
“Teagasc continue to work closely with farmers on general fertiliser and nutrient management advice, particularly focusing on efficient use of lime and organic fertilisers sources, as well as optimising chemical fertilisers.
“This is increasingly relevant as fertiliser prices increase. The spring period is a critical part of the year for this activity as spring crop plantings take place and as grassland is fertilised to grow silage crops to secure winter feed for next winter.”